A hallmark of many skilled motions is the anticipatory nature of the balance-related adjustments that
happen in preparation for the expected evolution of forces during the motion. This can shape
simulated and animated motions in subtle-but-important ways, help lend physical credence to the
motion, and help signal the character's intent. In this paper, we investigate how center of mass
reference trajectories (CMRTs) can be learned in order to achieve anticipatory balance control with
a state-of-the-art reactive balancing system. This enables the design of physics-based motion
simulations that involve fast pose transitions as well as force-based interactions with the
environment, such as punches, pushes, and catching heavy objects. We demonstrate the results on
planar human models, and show that CMRTs can generalize across parameterized versions of a
motion. We illustrate that they are also effective at conveying a mismatch between a character's
expectations and reality, e.g., thinking that an object is heavier than it is.